Hello! My name is Christine. I'm French, nice to meet you!

I’ve been happily repeating this sentence in every language since I’ve been traveling and I get 99% smiles in response. That’s how the dialogue starts and we get to know each other. Today I’m introducing myself to you! Rather small, blond hair, brown eyes. I grew up in the 9-3, the famous Parisian suburbs and afterwards I moved between the East and South of France and North-East Europe. I changed countries, regions, cities, single or as a couple. I studied arts, photography, journalism, international marketing, communication, building painting, interior design, writing, translation, digital marketing, web…
Briefly, many different professional experiences. Student, freelance, employee, company manager or in training, I have gone through many different statuses.
I had a car, a washing machine, a company. A dog, a cat, turtles… and sometimes the blues too. But above all, I’m 3 times Mummy! As you can see, I’ve had many lives. 

I had a normal life until I was 44 and one day, I left…

 

One day, I decided to go and see the rest of the world.
I didn’t want to spend my time in a routine that I began to find deadly after my children left home. So I changed everything! But before I could walk on the roads of the world, there were many steps. Do you find it foolish? Not at all!
You’ll see that I’m completely “normal”!

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A normal life, a normal family, a normal everyday life...

I would have liked to begin this story with distant memories of a childhood with deep roots, a grandmother passing on her passions to me, a family history rich in stories, a gift, a blessing. But no, none of that. Nobody gave me the keys to the adventure.

I had to wait until I was old enough to discover the world and change my life.
No regrets, no remorse. My greatest adventure, the most exciting, the most rewarding is certainly that of having been a mother. I am deeply happy to have accompanied them through life, from the first steps to the last goodbyes.

A late start, but not too late

Slowly but surely, once my little ones became giants, I wanted to change my life. In the year 2011, I left for a year, direction Asia. This year of break has changed a lot of things in me and around me. Neither simple nor complicated, it was nevertheless a great change that brought about others. During my first trip, I met a lot of people. Nothing as spectacular as Javier Bardem in a Balinese rice field, but people like you and me who pushed me to put a lot of things into perspective.

A good nature at the start and an immoderate taste for adventure

At the age of 44, I had a respectable muscle mass, strong legs and shoulders, and great energy.
As a child, I was a scout for many years. I have to admit that these lessons like orienteering, camps and community life gave me a good basis for adventure 40 years later. Yes, this apprenticeship gave me some advantages.
Not afraid of dormitories, not easily scared, I am able to sleep in the middle of an Indian train station between a cow and 3 Sadhus. But most important, I had confidence in myself. My life before required me to force a lot, to work hard. So going to unknown countries didn’t seem scary at all.
Life also made me flexible. I often had to do with what I get, even if it was little, to make myself and my children happy.

Don't be fooled by appearances, it wasn't a easy way!

In my former life, I wore pretty clothes, white coats… I even went to a few fashion shows in a little black dress.
I went to the cinema as much as I could, I read about 40 books a year.
I liked my garden and I planted herbs and flowers in it. We would get together for great barbecues under the towering jasmine that filled the neighbourhood with fragrance in summer.

I wasn’t rich, I didn’t even own my tiny little house. But just enough to leave, once, leaving a roof over the children’s heads, all expenses paid and not working for a year. Everybody thought it was crazy, dumb, unreasonable, insane. Sacrifice this hard-earned nest egg to go for a walk!
Luckily, I went through with it, and I was right. This investment has made me richer than I could have ever hoped for. This first big trip galvanized me, dazzled me, enchanted me.

Rotten buses for long trip, night trains, mountains, trails, elephants, knee-deep mud, golden temples and foggy early mornings.
It was a year of all happiness that made me want to go and see elsewhere. This experience gave me the conviction, the strength to give another meaning to “my life”.
Since then, this interlude has become my daily path.
Of course, not everything happened like in a fairy tale, but this is another story that I will tell you later.

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